Competition among dentists is increasing very quickly. The American Dental Association estimates that by 2022 there will 16% more dentists in the United States than today, meaning you only have a handful of years to get competitive. It’s quite possible that you might be feeling the effects of increased competition right now. Or, you might be seeing just the initial signs that increased competition is coming your way. The strongest and most profound indication that your practice is in for more difficult times is your revenue and production has either a) flattened or b) started falling slightly. Or, maybe you are starting to see it in your new patient count or lack of new patient count. Your goal may be 20 or 40 new patients per month, but now you’re only seeing 10 or 20, or worse yet you’re down to less than 10 new patients per month. Any of these stats are like a sounding alarm that it’s time for your practice to start getting competitive.
Young Patients Aren’t Finding Me
You have a firm patient base, but the new people finding you seem to be older. For some reason, younger patients are not finding you at a high rate.
My Average Patient Age is Getting Older
The common age of your patient is getting older. This is similar to the first issue above.
Revenue & Production Is Flat or Falling
You’ve observed a trend where your practice stopped growing some years ago, or maybe even more recently. You hear other practices are growing, but you’re not.
Competitors/Corporates Are Moving In
You might have noticed more and more practices opening up in your city, or areas near you. You might even notice more corporates or chains in your city.
My Current Marketing Isn’t Working
You’re running marketing campaigns, and you’ve hired marketing companies, but you can’t tell if it’s working. You have no real results and might be wasting money.
No Effective Marketing At All
You haven’t needed marketing in the past. You’ve worked mostly off of referrals and word of mouth and never felt like you needed to market. You’re wondering if you need to now.
Haven’t Stayed Cutting Edge
By not marketing properly, your practice may be falling behind. Competitors are using cutting edge marketing techniques and you need to as well in order to compete with them.
Your Marketing Doesn’t Speak to Gen Y and Millennials
The new generations of potential new patients think, act, and make decisions much differently than older generations. To attract them, you must market to them. You’ll need a marketing company that understands these generations and knows how to attract them.
Made Some Bad Marketing Hires
It happens to almost every practice. You may have hired a marketing company or someone in the office to do “marketing” and run the practice who did not live up to their promises and deliver you new patients.
Might Be Penalized by Google
If you’ve hired marketing companies in the past, and now you’re not showing up on search engines there’s a chance your website has been penalized.
Might Be Doing It Yourself
You’ve never needed to hire a marketing company because you’ve been handing it yourself. You’ve ‘dabbled’ in marketing, but now you see it’s not working and driving patients.